Ephemeral effects of El Niño–Southern Oscillation events on an eastern tropical Pacific coral community
R. Cruz-García A B , A. P. Rodríguez-Troncoso
B F , F. A. Rodríguez-Zaragoza C , A. Mayfield D E and A. L. Cupul-Magaña B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Unidad Mazatlán, Capitan Joel Montes Camarena s/n, Cerro del Vigía, C.P. 82000 Mazatlan, Sinaloa, México.
B Laboratorio de Ecología Marina del Centro de Investigaciones Costeras, Centro Universitario de la Costa, Universidad de Guadalajara, Avenida Universidad 203, Puerto Vallarta, C.P. 48280, Jalisco, México.
C Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Microbiología y Taxonomía (LEMITAX), Departamento de Ecología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Camino Ramón Padilla Sánchez, 2100 Nextipac, Zapopan, C.P. 45110, Jalisco, México.
D National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Checheng, Pingtung, Taiwan.
E Present address: Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
F Corresponding author. Email: pao.rodriguezt@gmail.com
Marine and Freshwater Research 71(10) 1259-1268 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18481
Submitted: 13 December 2018 Accepted: 4 February 2020 Published: 2 March 2020
Abstract
Coral-reef ecosystems of the central Mexican Pacific have been routinely affected by both moderate and severe El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events over the past 20 years. Such conditions are associated with abnormally high (1997–1998, 2002–2003, 2009–2010, and 2015–2016; ‘El Niño’) and low (1999–2000, 2008–2009, and 2010–2011; ‘La Niña’) seawater temperatures. Because few studies have documented how ENSO events affect both corals and key coral competitors such as macroalgae, we evaluated the short- and long-term changes in the cover of three reef coral genera, namely, Pocillopora, Pavona and Porites, as well as four coral competitors, namely, macroalgae, turf algae, coralline algae (CCA) and sponges, over a multi-year period that encapsulated two strong ENSO events: the 2010–2011 La Niña and the 2015–2016 El Niño. Such temperature anomalies caused a short-lived decrease in coral cover, alongside a concomitant increase in CCA. The communities eventually returned to their coral-dominated states within several months of the ENSO events, suggesting that these reef habitats can recover from such episodes of anomalous seawater temperatures.
Additional keywords: benthic ecology, coralline algae, coral reefs, ENSO, Mexican Pacific, thermal stress.
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